179 Sex Offenders Arrested In Statewide Sweep

3-10-2010 Michigan:

LANSING, Mich. -- The Michigan State Police announced Tuesday that 179 non-compliant sex offenders were arrested and 248 additional arrest warrants were requested during Operation Verify, an initiative aimed at increasing compliance with Michigan’s sex offender registration law.

This was the state’s sixth coordinated sex offender sweep in five years.

The effort involved over 120 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

During two weeks beginning in February, officers conducted compliance checks at the registered residences of 1,512 offenders, resulting in 179 arrests for violations of the Michigan Sex Offenders Registration Act.

The Michigan Sex Offenders Registration Act requires offenders convicted of a misdemeanor-listed offense to report to a local law enforcement agency to verify their address yearly, Jan. 1 through Jan. 15.

Offenders convicted of a felony-listed offense must report to a local law enforcement agency to verify their address quarterly during the first 15 days of January, April, July and October.

Failure to do so is a graduated penalty ranging from a 93-day misdemeanor to a four-year felony.

Convicted offenders must also report a change of address within 10 days of moving; failure to do so is a four-year felony.

As of Jan 2010, there were 45,546 offenders on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry.

Following the January verification period, 40,896 offenders were in compliance. ..Source.. WNEM.com